Month: April 2017

This is one of three Takahara parks and perhaps the most hidden. The road leading to the park is narrow and the park is on the side of a hill. The main feature of the park is the cement elephant slide. The slide ends in a sand box and there are a few benches and banyan trees in the park. While we were there several people passed through the park picking up garbage, so although it’s an older park it was very clean. There is a toilet and water faucet at this park.

Note – Many of the parks in this area are mislabeled on Google Maps as “kogen” , which is another reading of the characters 高原 but everything in this area translated as “kogen” is not correct, as the proper reading in this case is “Takahara”.

Miyazato Daini is one of many neighborhood parks in the Miyazato and Misato area of Okinawa City. There is a low roller slide and swing set for young children and a regular swing set and wooden playground with two slides for bigger kids. There is an open grass field and a fenced in basketball court. The water faucets have had their handles removed but the bathrooms are working (Japanese style except for the handicap toilet). There are a few trees for shade. The most unique thing about this park is the small roller slide.

This is new park that is in the middle of the surrounding public housing (danchi) in the Ageda neighborhood of Okinawa City. There is a large banyan tree and grassy greek theatre in the middle. On one side of the park is some stretching equipment and a small slide for young children. The main playground in on the other side and it has a zoo theme with “elephant slides” and “hippo tail” climbing ropes. There is a water fountain and bathroom. The park can be accessed from the bottom or the top. There are seats surrounding the large banyan tree so you can find shade to sit in anytime of the day.

There is a nice walking path around Misato Daini Park with an open grass field and playground in the middle. There are also some small hills that are good for sliding down. The park is completely surrounded by housing so most visitors live in the area. There is a bathroom and water fountain, but no parking lot. Young children learning to ride bikes share the path with walkers.

I love this park. It’s huge, unique, and totally underutilized. It’s only a short drive from Toyosaki’s Niji park. The playground is stretched out over a large area on both sides of the parking lot so look around and you will discover more and more.

This is probably the strangest park in Okinawa. There are beautiful fountains that are not in use, a display of fishing nets, traditional Okinawa houses, a castle-like structure in the center, and random playground equipment throughout the park. My favorite thing about the park is the rail-style tarzan rope, which are far superior to the pully-type tarzan ropes but this is the only one I’ve ever seen that still has the rail and rope.

Santinmo Park is built around a sacred spot with the same name. Go down to the bottom of the stairs and it’s so dark your eyes need time to adjust. All around there is unique playground equipment and rest areas, including hat-shaped rest areas and a lookout. The park actually continues for a ways beyond what you can initially see, so keep walking around the houses and you will see that the park picks up again in the open spaces between houses. As a bonus, below the park is the coolest intersect in Okinawa.

This is a new area and the park itself stretches from the river all the way around to the beach. The playground area is right next to the elementary school. If you get tired of the playground try fishing off one of the bridges or walk along the beach.

There are two areas to this park, the first is a ship themed park, and the other is around the corner and has lots of roller slides. The view is beautiful and the park is fun, so if you’re in the area check out London Forest Park.

This is a beautiful park at the southern tip of the island. The playground is surrounded by a castle-like wall and trees. Aside from the usual playground equipment, there is a seesaw and tire swing. The atmosphere and view at this park are excellent. The playground is on the west side. Please note that this park is gated and closed on Mondays.